Detachable or reusable fittings for flexible hose have the advantage of permitting hose assemblies of various lengths to be readily produced with a minimum inventory of parts. Hose wound upon a spool merely need be cut to the desired length and a fitting assembled to each hose end to complete the assembly. Such fittings commonly employ a nipple received within the hose bore and a socket threaded upon the nipple engages the exterior surface of the hose end in radial spaced alignment with the nipple. In this manner the hose end is firmly gripped between the nipple and the socket establishing a fluid tight relationship between the hose and fitting, and threads, nuts or other connection structure mounted upon the nipple permits the fitting to be connected to the other components of the system. A typical detachable hose and fitting of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,226,702.
With hose fittings of this type, the socket usually includes internal serrations for increasing the frictional engagement of the socket with the hose cover, and such serrations are typically of a spiral or thread configuration permitting the socket to be "threaded" upon the hose end. Usually, the spiraled or helical socket serrations are of a rounded configuration to prevent cutting or tearing of the hose cover.
When assembling fittings and hose of large diameter, i.e. hose having an OD of 2 inches or greater, considerable torque is required to thread the socket upon the hose, and commonly, the hose must be firmly clamped and a wrench is applied to the socket to produce the necessary torque.
Where a significant number of hose assemblies are assembled, such as in the plant of an industrial equipment manufacturer, or a hose distributor, it is common to employ powered machines for assembling the fittings upon flexible hose, and in such machines the hose is clamped against rotation. while the socket is chucked and rotated by an electric motor. As the socket is rotated the hose is manually pushed into the rotating socket to produce the assembly. Such hose assembly machines are sold by the assignee identified as Model Nos. FT1013 and FT1097.
In the operation of the aforedescribed assembly machines the axial movement of the hose relative to the socket is produced manually, and considerable axial force on the hose is often required, especially with the larger sizes of hose and sockets, but, heretofore, power or force multiplying means were not available for axially translating the hose and considerable effort was required by the operator when assembling or disassembling hose and fittings.
It is an object of the invention to provide a hose assembly machine wherein manually operated force multiplying hose feeding means are utilized to feed the hose into a rotating socket, or retract the hose therefrom, and thereby substantially reduce the effort required for hose assembly or disassembly.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a manual hose feeding or disassembly means for use with existing powered hose assembly machines wherein the apparatus of the invention may be retroactively fitted to existing hose assembly machines with a minimum of modification thereto.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide manual means for feeding and retracting hose relative to a fitting socket when the apparatus is economical to produce and use, and may be readily utilized by operators of ordinary skill.
In the practice of the invention, the hose assembly machine commonly consists of a powered chuck mounted upon a chuck frame and a reversible electric motor selectively rotating the chuck and clamped socket in either direction of rotation. Guide means parallel to the axis of chuck rotation support a hose clamp wherein the clamp, and clamped hose, is movable in a direction parallel to the axis of socket rotation, and the hose end is maintained coaxial with the socket. Such apparatus is known, as described above, and during socket rotation manual axial displacement of the hose clamp and hose toward the socket permits the hose to enter the socket and be threaded therein upon the socket serrations.
In the practice of the invention, a shaft is rotatably mounted upon the apparatus frame upon bearings, and hexagonal drive heads mounted upon the ends of the reel shaft permit the shaft to be rotated by means of a conventional ratchet wrench. A nylon web or strap is affixed at one end to the reel shaft, and the other end of the reel shaft is attached to the hose clamp. As the reel shaft is located on the frame in the direction of the chuck relative to the location of the hose clamp, rotation of the reel shaft by the ratchet wrench winds the strap upon the shaft, pulling the hose clamp toward the chuck, and in this manner the hose clamp, and hose, are "winched" toward the rotating socket for hose assembly purposes.
When using the invention to disassemble hose from a socket, a reversing bar is mounted upon the ends of the hose clamp guides and the strap passes around the outer portion of the reversing bar prior to being affixed to the hose clamp. As the location of the reversing bar locates the bar at a greater distance from the chuck than the hose clamp, tensioning of the strap will displace the hose clamp, and hose, away from the chuck and the socket producing the necessary axial force on the hose to permit disassembly of the hose and socket.
The apparatus of the invention is of a relatively simple configuration, readily manufacturable and saleable at moderate expense, yet the invention permits high axial forces to be readily mechanically imposed upon the hose within a hose assembly machine substantially reducing the manual effort required for hose assembly and disassembly purposes.